Computational systems and methods for linking users of devices

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatuses, computer program products, devices and systems are described that carry out accepting device-identifier data corresponding to at least one communication device; accepting network-participation identifier data associated with a verified real-world user associated with the at least one communication device; and assigning a unique identifier at least partly based on the device-identifier data and the network-participation identifier data.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This description relates to data capture and data handling techniques.

SUMMARY

An embodiment provides a system. In one implementation, the systemincludes but is not limited to circuitry for accepting device-identifierdata corresponding to at least one communication device; circuitry foraccepting network-participation identifier data associated with averified real-world user associated with the at least one communicationdevice; and circuitry for assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects aredescribed in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent disclosure.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to computing means and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the computing means and/or programmingmay be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

An embodiment provides a computer-implemented method. In oneimplementation, the method includes but is not limited to acceptingdevice-identifier data corresponding to at least one communicationdevice; accepting network-participation identifier data associated witha verified real-world user associated with the at least onecommunication device; and assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects aredescribed in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent disclosure.

An embodiment provides an article of manufacture including a computerprogram product. In one implementation, the article of manufactureincludes but is not limited to a signal-bearing medium configured by oneor more instructions related to (a) accepting device-identifier datacorresponding to at least one communication device; (b) acceptingnetwork-participation identifier data associated with a verifiedreal-world user associated with the at least one communication device;and (c) assigning a unique identifier at least partly based on thedevice-identifier data and the network-participation identifier data. Inaddition to the foregoing, other computer program product aspects aredescribed in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent disclosure.

An embodiment provides a system. In one implementation, the systemincludes but is not limited to a computing device and instructions. Theinstructions when executed on the computing device cause the computingdevice to (a) accept device-identifier data corresponding to at leastone communication device; (b) accept network-participation identifierdata associated with a verified real-world user associated with the atleast one communication device; and (c) assign a unique identifier atleast partly based on the device-identifier data and thenetwork-participation identifier data. In addition to the foregoing,other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and textforming a part of the present disclosure.

In addition to the foregoing, various other method and/or system and/orprogram product aspects are set forth and described in the teachingssuch as text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/or drawingsof the present disclosure.

The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications,generalizations, inclusions, and/or omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Otheraspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes and/orother subject matter described herein will become apparent in theteachings set forth herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

With reference now to FIG. 1, shown is an example of a system forlinking users of devices in which embodiments may be implemented,perhaps in a device and/or through a network, which may serve as acontext for introducing one or more processes and/or devices describedherein.

FIG. 2 illustrates certain alternative embodiments of the system forlinking users of devices of FIG. 1.

With reference now to FIG. 3, shown is an example of an operational flowrepresenting example operations related to linking users of devices,which may serve as a context for introducing one or more processesand/or devices described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 12 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 13 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

With reference now to FIG. 14, shown is a partial view of an examplearticle of manufacture including a computer program product thatincludes a computer program for executing a computer process on acomputing device related to linking users of devices, which may serve asa context for introducing one or more processes and/or devices describedherein.

With reference now to FIG. 15, shown is an example device in whichembodiments may be implemented related to linking users of devices,which may serve as a context for introducing one or more processesand/or devices described herein.

FIG. 16 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 in which embodiments may beimplemented. The system 100 includes a unique identifier unit 102. Theunique identifier unit 102 may contain, for example, device-identifieracceptor module 104 and network-participation identifier acceptor module106. Unique identifier unit 102 may communicate over a network ordirectly with device-identifier custodian 110 to acceptdevice-identifier data 108. Unique identifier unit 102 may alsocommunicate over a network or directly with network-participationidentifier custodian 114 to accept network-participation identifier data112 associated with a verified real-world user 120 associated with theat least one communication device. Optionally, unique identifier unit102 may also accept geodata 116 or financial account data 118. Uniqueidentifier unit 102 may also include identity prediction module 122 forassociating network-participation identifier data with a verifiedreal-world user 120 associated with a communication device.

In FIG. 1, unique identifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifierbased on accepted device-identifier data 108 and acceptednetwork-participation identifier data 112. Optionally, unique identifierunit 102 may assign geodata 116 and/or financial account data 118 to anassigned unique identifier.

In FIG. 1, the unique identifier unit 102 is illustrated as possiblybeing included within a system 100. Of course, virtually any kind ofcomputing device may be used to implement the special purpose uniqueidentifier unit 102, such as, for example, a workstation, a desktopcomputer, a networked computer, a server, a collection of servers and/ordatabases, a virtual machine running inside a computing device, a mobilecomputing device, or a tablet PC.

Additionally, not all of the unique identifier unit 102 need beimplemented on a single computing device. For example, the uniqueidentifier unit 102 may be implemented and/or operable on a remotecomputer, while a user interface and/or local instance of the uniqueidentifier unit 102 are implemented and/or occur on a local computer.Further, aspects of the unique identifier unit 102 may be implemented indifferent combinations and implementations than that shown in FIG. 1.For example, functionality of a user interface may be incorporated intothe unique identifier unit 102. The unique identifier unit 102 mayperform simple data relay functions and/or complex data analysis,including, for example, fuzzy logic and/or traditional logic steps.Further, many methods of assigning unique identifiers described hereinor known in the art may be used, including, for example, algorithms usedin generating globally unique identifiers, universally uniqueidentifiers, and/or other random number generation methods. In someembodiments, the unique identifier unit 102 may assign uniqueidentifiers based on device-identifier data 108 and/ornetwork-participation identifier data 112 available as updates through anetwork.

Unique identifier unit 102 may access data stored in virtually any typeof memory that is able to store and/or provide access to information in,for example, a one-to-many, many-to-one, and/or many-to-manyrelationship. Such a memory may include, for example, a relationaldatabase and/or an object-oriented database, examples of which areprovided in more detail herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates certain alternative embodiments of the system 100 ofFIG. 1. In FIG. 2, The unique identifier unit 102 may also includeunique identifier compiler logic 238 and or encryption protocol logic240. Unique identifier unit 102 may communicate over a network ordirectly with device-identifier custodian 110 to acceptdevice-identifier data 108, perhaps in the form of device identifier 230from communication device 228. Unique identifier unit 102 may alsocommunicate over a network or directly with network-participationidentifier custodian 114 to accept network-participation identifier data112 associated with a verified real-world user 120 associated with theat least one communication device, perhaps from social network 232,business network 234, and/or other network 236.

In this way, the unique identifier unit 102 may generate a compiledand/or encrypted list of unique identifiers that are optionally codedwith or otherwise linked to geodata and/or financial account data.

In some embodiments, unique identifier compiler logic 112 may create acompiled set of composite identifiers that can be used to disambiguatesearch results in the network based on device-identifier data, networkparticipation identifier data, and/or geodata, for example. Uniqueidentifier unit 102 can be operated by a telecom company or by a socialor other network owner, or by both in cooperation with each other. Acompiled list of unique identifiers as discussed herein can representall or substantially all unique user devices in a given social networkor other communications network, e.g., wireless network, email network,or the like.

A directory of uniquely-identified devices can serve as the foundationfor searching within a social network, and for facilitating financialtransactions via the device for members of the social network associatedwith the device.

In some embodiments, unique identifier unit 102 may also includeidentity prediction module 122 for associating network-participationidentifier data with a verified real-world user 120 associated with acommunication device 228. Identity prediction module 122 may includevarious search and/or matching functions for associatingnetwork-participation identifier data 112 with a verified real-worlduser 120 associated with a communications device 228. For example,identity prediction module 122 may include de-anonymization module 244,which in turn may include real-name profiling module 246. Identityprediction module 122 may also include web history tracking module 248,media content tracking module 250, and/or app list tracking module 252.

For the purposes of this application, SIM as used herein includesmini-SIM, micro-SIM, Universal Subscriber Identity Module, CDMASubscriber Identity Module, Universal Integrated Circuit Card, RemovableUser Identity Module, virtual SIM, and other variants of the subscriberidentity module described herein and understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art.

As referenced herein, the unique identifier unit 102 may be used toperform various data querying and/or recall techniques with respect tothe device-identifier data 108 and/or network-participation identifierdata 112, in order to assign a unique identifier. For example, where thenetwork-participation identifier data 112 is organized, keyed to, and/orotherwise accessible using one or more user accounts such as socialnetwork, email, or the like, unique identifier unit 102 may employvarious Boolean, statistical, and/or semi-boolean searching techniquesto assign a unique identifier. Similarly, for example, wheredevice-identifier data 108 is organized, keyed to, and/or otherwiseaccessible using one or more device-identifier custodian 110, variousBoolean, statistical, and/or semi-boolean searching techniques may beperformed by unique identifier unit 102 to assign a unique identifier.

Many examples of databases and database structures may be used inconnection with the unique identifier unit 102. Such examples includehierarchical models (in which data is organized in a tree and/orparent-child node structure), network models (based on set theory, andin which multi-parent structures per child node are supported), orobject/relational models (combining the relational model with theobject-oriented model).

Still other examples include various types of eXtensible Mark-upLanguage (XML) databases. For example, a database may be included thatholds data in some format other than XML, but that is associated with anXML interface for accessing the database using XML. As another example,a database may store XML data directly. Additionally, or alternatively,virtually any semi-structured database may be used, so that context maybe provided to/associated with stored data elements (either encoded withthe data elements, or encoded externally to the data elements), so thatdata storage and/or access may be facilitated.

Such databases, and/or other memory storage techniques, may be writtenand/or implemented using various programming or coding languages. Forexample, object-oriented database management systems may be written inprogramming languages such as, for example, C++ or Java. Relationaland/or object/relational models may make use of database languages, suchas, for example, the structured query language (SQL), which may be used,for example, for interactive queries for disambiguating informationand/or for gathering and/or compiling data from the relationaldatabase(s).

For example, SQL or SQL-like operations over one or moredevice-identifier data 108 and/or network-participation identifier data112 may be performed, or Boolean operations using a device-identifierdata 108 and/or network-participation identifier data 112 may beperformed. For example, weighted Boolean operations may be performed inwhich different weights or priorities are assigned to one or more of thedevice-identifier data 108 and/or network-participation identifier data112, including various network participation aliases associated with aparticular verified real-world user, perhaps relative to one another.For example, a number-weighted, exclusive-OR operation may be performedto request specific weightings of network participation identifiers.

Following are a series of flowcharts depicting implementations. For easeof understanding, the flowcharts are organized such that the initialflowcharts present implementations via an example implementation andthereafter the following flowcharts present alternate implementationsand/or expansions of the initial flowchart(s) as either sub-componentoperations or additional component operations building on one or moreearlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art willappreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g.,beginning with a presentation of a flowchart presenting an exampleimplementation and thereafter providing additions to and/or furtherdetails in subsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and easyunderstanding of the various process implementations. In addition, thoseskilled in the art will further appreciate that the style ofpresentation used herein also lends itself well to modular and/orobject-oriented program design paradigms.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operational flow 300 representing exampleoperations related to linking users of devices. In FIG. 3 and infollowing figures that include various examples of operational flows,discussion and explanation may be provided with respect to theabove-described system environments of FIGS. 1-2, and/or with respect toother examples and contexts. However, it should be understood that theoperational flows may be executed in a number of other environments andcontexts including that of FIG. 15, and/or in modified versions of FIGS.1-2. Also, although the various operational flows are presented in thesequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the variousoperations may be performed in other orders than those which areillustrated, or may be performed concurrently.

After a start operation, operation 310 depicts acceptingdevice-identifier data corresponding to at least one communicationdevice. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/or device-identifieracceptor module 104 can accept device-identifier data 108 from atelecommunications carrier 220, for example in the form of a UniqueDevice Identifier (UDID) for an iPhone or iPod Touch. The UDID is asequence of 40 letters and numbers that is specific to each iPhone oriPod Touch. It may look something like this:2b6f0cc904d137be2e1730235f5664094b831186. Other examples of sources ofdevice-identifier data 108 include voice-over-internet-protocol serviceproviders such as Skype (peer-to-peer VoIP), and wireless carriers suchas Verizon Wireless (CDMA-based wireless communication). Other examplesof device-identifier data 108 include Media Access Control addresses(MAC address) and International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers(IMEI).

Operation 320 depicts accepting network-participation identifier dataassociated with a verified real-world user associated with the at leastone communication device. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/ornetwork-participation identifier acceptor module 106 may accept fromFacebook a username associated with a verified real-world user having aniPhone and corresponding account with a telecommunications company. Inanother example, unique identifier unit 102 may accept from LinkedIn thename of a person associated with a videoconferencing device andcorresponding account with a videoconferencing service such as WebEx Webconferencing. In another example, unique identifier unit 102 may acceptfrom Google the email address of a person associated with an Androidphone and corresponding account with a wireless carrier.

In some embodiments, network-participation identifier custodian 114 anddevice-identifier custodian 110 will cooperate to provide the necessarynetwork-participation identifier data 112 and device-identifier data 108to unique identifier unit 102. For example, Facebook may provideusernames, images, birthdates, telephone numbers, or other data that ithas about the verified real-world users of its social network to aconsortium of telecommunications carriers 220 (this may optionallyinvolve an opting-in step whereby users of Facebook affirmativelyapprove this action), who may provide device-identifier data 108.Assigning a unique identifier (discussed below) for eachnetwork-user-associated device across each of the carriers in theconsortium may result in a directory that is particularly valuable forthe telecommunications carriers, who can then provide directorysearching, support, and disambiguation for a potentially large fractionof the Facebook social network. Such a directory will likely be of equalinterest and value to networks including Facebook in this example, forthe same reasons. For example, a cross-carrier directory of Facebookmembers with associated phone numbers would be an added feature forFacebook that could significantly enhance the social informationprovided by the network.

Operation 330 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data. For example, unique identifier unit 102, upon acceptingdevice-identifier data 108 and network-participation identifier data 112associated with a verified real-world user 120 associated with the atleast one communication device, may assign a randomly-generated 32-bitunique identifier. In the iPhone example above, unique identifier unit102 may accept the iPhone's unique device identifier (UDID) as thedevice-identifier data 108, accept an iTunes username associated with auser with a valid credit card and security code as thenetwork-participation identifier data 112 associated with a verifiedreal-world user 120 associated with the at least one communicationdevice, and assign a unique identifier to the device and username pair.

As another example, unique identifier unit 102 may accept the MACaddress of a networked computer as the device-identifier data 108,accept an Outlook email address associated with a user with a verifiedbiometric measurement as the network-participation identifier data 112associated with a verified real-world user 120 associated with the atleast one communication device, and assign a unique identifier to thecomputer and email address pair.

As another example, unique identifier unit 102 may accept a mobilephone's integrated circuit card ID (ICC-ID) as the device-identifierdata 108, accept a Facebook username associated with a user with a validFacebook Credits account as the network-participation identifier data112 associated with a verified real-world user 120 associated with theat least one communication device, and assign a unique identifier to themobile phone and Facebook username pair.

In some embodiments, unique identifier unit 102 may include an identityprediction algorithm such as a de-anonymization algorithm, a real-nameprofiling algorithm, a web history tracking algorithm, media contenttracking algorithm, and/or an app list tracking algorithm. Thesealgorithms may aid in the association of network-participationidentifier data with a verified real-world user 120 associated with thecommunication device 228, where those associations are not provideddirectly by a device-identifier custodian 110 and/or anetwork-participation identifier custodian 114.

FIG. 4 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 illustrates example embodiments where theaccepting operation 310 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 400, 402, 404, and/oroperation 406.

Operation 400 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one of a mobile phone, a wired telephone, avoice-over-internet-protocol telephone, a tablet computer, a notebookcomputer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or a networkedtelevision. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/ordevice-identifier acceptor module 104 may accept device-identifier datacorresponding to at least one of a mobile phone, a wired telephone, avoice-over-internet-protocol telephone, a tablet computer, a notebookcomputer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or a networkedtelevision. For example, device-identifier acceptor module 104 mayaccept a mobile phone's mobile equipment identifier, a land line'stelephone number, or a networked computer's media access control address(MAC address) or internet protocol address (IP address).

Device-identifier data 108 may be accepted in different forms dependingon the device identified. For example, an IP address or MAC address maybe used to identify a computer.

Every device connected to the public internet is assigned a uniquenumber known as an internet protocol address (IP address). IP addressesconsist of four numbers separated by periods (also called a“dotted-quad”) and look something like 127.0.0.1. Since these numbersare usually assigned to internet service providers within region-basedblocks, an IP address can often be used to identify the region orcountry from which a computer is connecting to the Internet. An IPaddress can sometimes be used to show the user's general location. An IPaddress may also be assigned to a Host name, which may be easier toremember. Hostnames may be looked up to find IP addresses, andvice-versa. At one time internet service providers issued one IP addressto each user. These are static IP addresses. With the increased numberof issued IP addresses, internet service providers now issue IPaddresses in a dynamic fashion out of a pool of IP addresses usingdynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), which provides a centraldatabase for keeping track of computers that have been connected to thenetwork. This prevents two computers from accidentally being configuredwith the same IP address. These are referred to as dynamic IP addresses.In addition to users connecting to the internet, with virtual hosting, asingle machine can act like multiple machines, with multiple domainnames and IP addresses.

MAC addresses are unique identifiers assigned to network interfaces forcommunications on the physical network segment. They are most oftenassigned by the manufacturer of a network interface card (NIC) and arestored in its hardware, the card's read-only memory, or some otherfirmware mechanism. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC addressusually encodes the manufacturer's registered identification number andmay be referred to as the burned-in address. It may also be known as anEthernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address, or physical address.A network node may have multiple NICs and will then have one unique MACaddress per NIC.

A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module (SIM)is an integrated circuit that securely stores the service-subscriber keyor international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) used to identify asubscriber on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones andcomputers). A SIM card typically contains its unique serial number(integrated circuit card identifier or ICCID), an internationally uniquenumber of the mobile user (IMSI), security authentication and cipheringinformation, temporary information related to the local network, a listof the services the user has access to and two passwords: a personalidentification number (PIN) for usual use and a PIN unlock code (PUC)for unlocking. A SIM card may also store other carrier-specific datasuch as the SMSC (Short Message Service Center) number, Service ProviderName (SPN), Service Dialing Numbers (SDN), Advice-Of-Charge parametersand Value Added Service (VAS) applications.

A SIM card's ICCID is stored in the SIM card and also engraved orprinted on the SIM card body. The ICCID is typically composed of anissuer identification number (IIN), an individual account identificationnumber, and a check digit.

SIM cards are identified on their individual operator networks by aunique international mobile subscriber identity number or IMSI. Mobileoperators connect mobile phone calls and communicate with their marketSIM cards using their IMSIs. The format is: the first 3 digits representthe Mobile Country Code (MCC), the next 2 or 3 digits represent theMobile Network Code (MNC), and the next digits represent the mobilestation identification number.

SIM cards may also orthogonally store a number of SMS messages and phonebook contacts. A SIM is held on a removable SIM card, which can betransferred between different mobile devices.

Operation 402 depicts accepting telephony device-identifier dataincluding a telephone number associated with the telephony device. Forexample, unique identifier unit 102 may accept a ten-digit telephonenumber or a seven-digit telephone number from a telecommunicationscarrier 220 as the device-identifier data 108. The number contains theinformation necessary to identify uniquely the intended endpoint for thetelephone call. Each such endpoint must have a unique number within thepublic switched telephone network.

Operation 404 depicts accepting at least one of subscriber identitymodule data or integrated circuit card identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device. For example, unique identifier unit102 may accept an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) from amobile phone's SIM card from a telecommunications carrier 220 as thedevice-identifier data 108. As another example, device-identifieracceptor module 104 may accept from a wireless communications service222 an integrated circuit card identifier number from a SIM card for amobile phone.

Operation 406 depicts accepting mobile equipment identifier datacorresponding to at least one communication device. For example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may accept a mobile equipment identifiercorresponding to a mobile handset from a telecommunications carrier 220or wireless communications service 222. A Mobile Equipment IDentifier(MEID) is a globally unique 56-bit identification number for a physicalpiece of mobile equipment. Equipment identifiers are “burned” into adevice and are used as a means to facilitate mobile equipmentidentification and tracking. Additionally, MEIDs are coordinated withInternational Mobile Equipment Identifiers (IMEIs), facilitating globalroaming and harmonization between 3G technologies as a universal mobileequipment identifier. The MEID is a 14-digit hexadecimal value. The MEIDis capable of being transmitted over the air upon a request from thenetwork. The MEID is composed mainly of two basic components, themanufacturer code and the serial number.

FIG. 5 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 illustrates example embodiments where theaccepting operation 310 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 500, 502, and/or operation504.

Operation 500 depicts accepting international mobile subscriber identitydata corresponding to at least one communication device. For example,device-identifier acceptor module 104 may accept an international mobilesubscriber identity (IMSI) from a mobile phone's SIM card from awireless communications service 222 as the device-identifier data 108.An International Mobile Subscriber Identity or IMSI is a uniqueidentification associated with all GSM and UMTS network mobile phoneusers. It is stored as a 64-bit field in the SIM inside the phone and issent by the phone to the network. It is also used for acquiring otherdetails of the mobile device in the Home Location Register (HLR) or aslocally copied in the Visitor Location Register. To preventeavesdroppers identifying and tracking the subscriber on the radiointerface, the IMSI is sent as rarely as possible and arandomly-generated temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI) is sentinstead. The IMSI is used in any mobile network that interconnects withother networks. This number is kept in the phone directly or in theremovable user identity module (R-UIM) card, a card developed for CDMAhandsets that extends the GSM SIM card to CDMA phones and networks.

Operation 502 depicts accepting electronic serial number datacorresponding to at least one communication device. For example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may accept an electronic serial number from a mobilephone's SIM card from a telecommunications carrier 220 as thedevice-identifier data 108. As another example, device-identifieracceptor module 104 may accept from a wireless communications service222 an electronic serial number from a SIM card for a CDMA-based mobilephone.

Operation 504 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount. For example, unique identifier unit 102 may accept a mobileequipment identifier from a mobile phone's SIM card from atelecommunications carrier 220, the MEID corresponding to a billingaccount for a subscriber of a wireless service provided by thetelecommunications carrier 220. As another example, device-identifieracceptor module 104 may accept from a wireless communications service222 an IMSI from a SIM card for a mobile phone, the IMSI correspondingto a billing account for a subscriber of the wireless communicationsservice 222.

FIG. 6 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIGS. 3 and 5. FIG. 6 illustrates example embodiments wherethe accepting operation 504 may include at least one additionaloperation. Additional operations may include operation 600, 602, and/oroperation 604.

Operation 600 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one billing account comprises a cabletelecommunications billing account. For example, unique identifier unit102 may accept a computer user's MAC address or IP address as the deviceidentifier data 108. In this example, the MAC address or IP address ofthe computer may be linked to a Skype account for billing purposes.

Operation 602 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one billing account comprises a wirelesstelecommunications billing account. For example, unique identifier unit102 may accept from a wireless service provider an IMEI for a mobilephone linked to a billing account for an individual subscriber.

Operation 604 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one wireless telecommunications billingaccount comprises a satellite telecommunications billing account. Forexample, unique identifier unit 102 may accept from a satellite-basedwireless service provider such as LightSquared, a device-identifier fora mobile phone linked to a billing account for an individual subscriber.

FIG. 7 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIGS. 3 and 5. FIG. 7 illustrates example embodiments wherethe accepting operation 504 may include at least one additionaloperation. Additional operations may include operation 700, 702, 704,and/or operation 706.

Operation 700 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one billing account comprises a physicaladdress. For example, device-identifier acceptor module 104 may acceptfrom a wireless communications service 222 an IMSI from a SIM card for amobile phone, the IMSI corresponding to a billing account for asubscriber of the wireless communications service 222 at a specificstreet, city, and country address.

Operation 702 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one billing account comprises a bankaccount. For example, device-identifier acceptor module 104 may acceptfrom a wireless communications service 222 an iPhone or iPod Touchdevice identifier, the identifier corresponding to a bank account numberfor a subscriber of the wireless service to the iPhone or iPod Touchdevice.

Operation 704 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one billing account comprises anelectronic payment account. To continue the previous example involvingthe iPhone or iPod Touch device, the wireless service subscription maybe linked to a bank's electronic payment service, wire transfer service,or the like.

Operation 706 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least oneelectronic payment account, wherein the electronic payment accountcomprises at least one of a Google Checkout account, an Amazon Paymentsaccount, a PayPal account, or a mobile PayPal account. For example, aunique identifier unit 102 may accept a mobile device ID for an Androidmobile phone from an Android app such as “Android Device ID” availablefor download from the Android Market. The Android mobile device ID,perhaps derived from a wireless network socket, for the mobile phone maycorrespond to a Google Checkout account for the subscriber of thewireless service to the mobile phone.

FIG. 8 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIGS. 3 and 5. FIG. 8 illustrates example embodiments wherethe accepting operation 504 may include at least one additionaloperation. Additional operations may include operation 800, 802, and/oroperation 804.

Operation 800 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one billing account comprises a creditcard account. For example, a wireless device's service subscription maybe linked to a user's credit card account.

Operation 802 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one billingaccount, wherein the at least one billing account comprises a virtualaccount. For example, to continue the Google Checkout example above, aunique identifier unit 102 may accept a mobile device ID for an Androidmobile phone from an Android app such as “Android Device ID” availablefor download from the Android Market. The Android mobile device ID forthe mobile phone may correspond to a virtual account such as a Facebookcredit account.

Operation 804 depicts accepting device-identifier data corresponding toat least one communication device that is linked to at least one virtualaccount, wherein the virtual account comprises at least one of a virtualwallet or a virtual prepaid credit card. For example, to continue theGoogle Checkout example above, a unique identifier unit 102 may accept amobile device ID for an Android mobile phone from an Android app such as“Android Device ID” available for download from the Android Market. TheAndroid mobile device ID for the mobile phone may correspond to avirtual wallet account such as Google wallet.

FIG. 9 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 9 illustrates example embodiments where theaccepting operation 320 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 900, 902, 904, and/oroperation 906.

Operation 900 depicts accepting network-participation identifier dataassociated with at least one of a user's social security number, auser's national identification card, a user's biometric measurement, auser's passport number, a user's tax identification number, a user'sinternet domain, or a user's authentication certificate. For example,unique identifier unit 102 and/or network-participation identifieracceptor module 106 may accept network-participation identifier dataassociated with at least one of a user's social security number, auser's national identification card, a user's biometric measurement, auser's passport number, a user's tax identification number, a user'sinternet domain, or a user's authentication certificate. For example,network-participation identifier acceptor module 106 may accept aFacebook username as network-participation identifier data, the usernameassociated with a photograph of the user as a biometric measurementverifying that a real-world user is associated with the username. Insome embodiments, an image recognition system may be employed toassociate an image with a specific user. In some embodiments, thereal-world user may be a corporation.

In another example, network-participation identifier acceptor module 106may accept an email address as network-participation identifier data,the email address associated with a social security number on file witha telecommunications company with which the user has a servicesubscription.

As used herein, “network-participation identifier data” may refer to asignifier of belonging in a network, such as an email address; ausername, such as a social networking user name; or other mark such asan image, number, or writing that signifies participation in aparticular network.

Operation 902 depicts accepting social networking data corresponding toat least one verified real-world user of the at least one communicationdevice. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/ornetwork-participation identifier acceptor module 106 may accept aGoogle+ username as a network-participation identifier datum, whereinthe Google+ username is associated with a photograph of the user havingthe username. In some embodiments, the photograph of the user may beanalyzed by image recognition technologies to identify a person havingspecific geographic, demographic, or other identifying characteristics.

Operation 904 depicts accepting social networking data corresponding toat least one verified real-world user of the at least one communicationdevice, wherein the social networking data comprises at least one of ausername, an @-tagged twitter handle, a corporate login, or a websiteuniform resource locator (URL). For example, unique identifier unit 102and/or network-participation identifier acceptor module 106 may accept ablogger's website URL as a network-participation identifier datum,wherein the website URL is associated with a photograph and/ordescription of the blogger on the website at the website URL.

Operation 906 depicts accepting social networking data corresponding toat least one verified real-world user of the at least one communicationdevice, wherein the social networking data comprises at least one ofFacebook data, Twitter data, or LinkedIn data. For example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 and/or network-participation identifier acceptormodule 106 may accept a LinkedIn username as a network-participationidentifier datum, wherein the username is associated with a publicprofile of a user of the business-related social networking siteLinkedIn.

FIG. 10 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIGS. 3 and 9. FIG. 10 illustrates example embodiments wherethe accepting operation 902 may include at least one additionaloperation. Additional operations may include operation 1000, 1002,and/or operation 1004.

Operation 1000 depicts accepting social networking data corresponding toat least one verified real-world user of the at least one communicationdevice, wherein the social networking data comprises at least one ofimage data, constellation of social contact data, or user input data.For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/or network-participationidentifier acceptor module 106 may accept a list of social contacts froma social network such as Facebook or LinkedIn as thenetwork-participation identifier data. In another example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 and/or network-participation identifier acceptormodule 106 may accept a list of email contacts grouped as friends orfamily from an email contact list as the network-participationidentifier data.

Operation 1002 depicts accepting social networking data corresponding toat least one verified real-world user of the at least one communicationdevice, wherein the social networking data comprises data accumulatedfrom multiple sources. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/ornetwork-participation identifier acceptor module 106 may accept aplurality of usernames sourced from various social networks, eachcorresponding to the same verified real-world user of the at least onecommunication device as the data accumulated from multiple sources. Asanother example, unique identifier unit 102 and/or network-participationidentifier acceptor module 106 may accept a set of photographs of thesame verified real-world user of the at least one communication device,sourced from various social networks as the data accumulated frommultiple sources.

Operation 1004 depicts accepting social networking data corresponding toat least one verified real-world user of the at least one communicationdevice, wherein the social networking data comprises at least one ofdata used to create additional data or data used to find additionaldata. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/ornetwork-participation identifier acceptor module 106 may accept awebsite URL of a social networking site's videoconferencing or videochatfeed as data (website URL) used to create additional data (streamingvideo of network participants). In another example, unique identifierunit 102 and/or network-participation identifier acceptor module 106 mayaccept a user image or alias that can be used to find other data, forexample as a search term in an reverse-image query or a text query,respectively.

FIG. 11 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 11 illustrates example embodiments where theassigning operation 330 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1100, 1102, and/or operation1104.

Operation 1100 depicts assigning at least one of a multi-digit decimalnumber, a multi-digit hexadecimal number, or a randomized code as theunique identifier. For example, unique identifier unit 102 may assign atleast one of a multi-digit decimal number, a multi-digit hexadecimalnumber, or a randomized code as the unique identifier. In anotherexample, unique identifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifier usingan algorithm(s) known in the art to generate unique multi-digit decimalnumbers or unique multi-digit hexadecimal numbers. See, e.g., U.S. Pat.No. 8,010,587 (hereby incorporated by reference).

Operation 1102 depicts further comprising encrypting the uniqueidentifier. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/or encryptionprotocol logic 240 may encrypt the assigned unique identifier.Encrypting the unique identifier may be desirable in cases wheretelecommunications carriers sharing a directory comprised of uniqueidentifiers for the purpose of locating and disambiguating users of oneor more networks, can share the unique identifiers but still protectthem and the underlying data from access by undesirable entities such asspammers and telemarketers. In another example, unique identifier unit102 may encrypt the assigned identifier or associated sensitive personaland/or financial information according to encryption schemes describedherein and known in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,010,791 and U.S.Pat. No. 8,010,786 (hereby incorporated by reference).

Operation 1104 depicts further comprising encrypting the uniqueidentifier, wherein the encrypting the unique identifier includesperforming at least one of symmetric key encryption, public keyencryption, hybrid digital signature encryption, using a one-way hashfunction, using a random identifier, or using a pseudo-randomidentifier. For example, unique identifier unit 102 and/or encryptionprotocol logic 240 may encrypt the assigned unique identifier using aone-way hash function, which is easy to compute on every input, but hardto invert given the image of a random input.

FIG. 12 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 12 illustrates example embodiments where theassigning operation 330 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1200, 1202, 1204, and/oroperation 1206.

Operation 1200 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, further comprising assigning to the unique identifiergeo-locator data from the at least one communication device. Forexample, unique identifier unit 102 may accept geodata 116 from a mobilephone, and then assign that geodata to an assigned unique identifiercorresponding to a device and a network participant. In another example,unique identifier unit 102 may accept geodata 116 in the form of acomputer's IP address, and then assign that geodata to an assignedunique identifier corresponding to the computer and a verified networkparticipant associated with that computer.

Operation 1202 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, further comprising assigning to the unique identifiergeo-locator data from the at least one communication device, wherein thegeo-locator data is assigned via a global positioning satellite functionof the communication device. For example, unique identifier unit 102 mayaccept geodata 116 from a mobile phone having a gps receiver, and thenassign that geodata to an assigned unique identifier corresponding to adevice and a network participant.

Operation 1204 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, further comprising assigning to the unique identifiergeo-locator data from the at least one communication device, wherein thegeo-locator data is derived from at least one of cellular phone towerproximity, Wi-Fi use, user-entered location data, or proximity to atleast one other device. For example, unique identifier unit 102 mayaccept geodata 116 from a smart phone using a Wi-Fi network contained ina database that contains location information for the Wi-Fi network, andthen assign that geodata to an assigned unique identifier correspondingto a device and a network participant.

Operation 1206 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, further comprising assigning to the unique identifiergeo-locator data from the at least one communication device, wherein thegeo-locator data is derived from at least one of a detected vehicle use,a detected user activity, or a detected user location. For example,unique identifier unit 102 may derive geo-locator data from detectedautomobile use, based on, for example, last known location and predictedrange of travel of the automobile. In another example, unique identifierunit 102 may receive or deduce geo-locator data from a detected useractivity, for example, checking in with foursquare at a specificlocation or searching for driving directions in a web browser,respectively.

FIG. 13 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 13 illustrates example embodiments where theassigning operation 330 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1300, 1302, 1304, and/oroperation 1306.

Operation 1300 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, wherein the unique identifier represents multiplecommunication devices associated with a single user. For example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifier at least partly basedon the device-identifier data and the network-participation identifierdata, wherein the unique identifier represents multiple communicationdevices associated with a single user. In another example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may accept device-identifier data from a mobilephone, a desktop computer, and a laptop computer, each of which isassociated with a single user, for example by virtue of an IMSI or otherSIM data, email data, billing account data, or social networking data.

Operation 1302 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, wherein the unique identifier represents a singlecommunication device associated with multiple users. For example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifier at least partly basedon the device-identifier data and the network-participation identifierdata, wherein the unique identifier represents a single communicationdevice associated with multiple users. In another example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may accept device-identifier data from a mobilephone, the device-identifier data associated with a multiple users, forexample members of a family by virtue of different login data used foraccess to the device and/or different social networking usernames usedon the device.

Operation 1304 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, wherein the unique identifier represents a singlecommunication device associated with a single user. For example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifier at least partly basedon the device-identifier data and the network-participation identifierdata, wherein the unique identifier represents a single communicationdevice associated with a single user. As another example, uniqueidentifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifier at least partly basedon a videoconferencing device ID, such as an IP address or a MACaddress, and at least partly based on a username and password for thevideoconference, accompanied by a video image of a user associated withthe username and password, verifying that a real-world user isassociated with the videoconferencing device.

Operation 1306 depicts assigning a unique identifier at least partlybased on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, and then adding an assigned unique identifier to aninter-service-provider directory of unique identifiers. For example,unique identifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifier at leastpartly based on the device-identifier data and the network-participationidentifier data, and then adding an assigned unique identifier to aninter-service-provider directory of unique identifiers. In anotherexample, unique identifier unit 102 may assign a unique identifier atleast partly based on SIM data identifying a user's mobile phone, and atleast partly based on the subscriber's participation in the wirelessnetwork, as verified, for example, by a social security number for theuser on file with the wireless carrier for the mobile device, forexample, Verizon. Verizon may similarly create unique identifiers forall of the other verified real-world users of its network and theirassociated devices. Other wireless carriers may similarly create uniqueidentifiers for their subscribers and associated devices.

If many wireless carriers agree to share their unique identifier listsand keep them in the same format for use as a global directory of mobilephone users, a comprehensive “white pages” of communications deviceusers becomes possible, across potentially all service providers. Such adirectory could also be keyed to social networking data such as usernameor user image, such that, for example, Facebook users could easily findeach other's device contact information and possibly locationinformation. Inclusion of users' device information in such a directorycould be done on an opt-in basis.

As used herein, a unique identifier based on a device-identifier and anetwork-participant identifier may be keyed to that underlying data.That is, having the unique identifier corresponding to specific devicedata and specific network-participation identifier data associated witha verified real-world user associated with the at least onecommunication device will permit the creator of the unique identifier touse it to call up the specific device data and specific networkparticipation identifier data. This may allow, for example, atelecommunications carrier to disambiguate one user from another havingsimilar or identical network participation identifier data. This can bedone on the basis of different device identifier data for the two userswith similar or identical network participation identifier data, forexample.

FIG. 14 illustrates a partial view of an example article of manufacture1400 that includes a computer program 1404 for executing a computerprocess on a computing device. An embodiment of the example article ofmanufacture 1400 is provided including a signal bearing medium 1402, andmay include one or more instructions for accepting device-identifierdata corresponding to at least one communication device; one or moreinstructions for accepting network-participation identifier dataassociated with a verified real-world user associated with the at leastone communication device; and one or more instructions for assigning aunique identifier at least partly based on the device-identifier dataand the network-participation identifier data. The one or moreinstructions may be, for example, computer executable and/orlogic-implemented instructions. In one implementation, thesignal-bearing medium 1402 may include a computer-readable medium 1406.In one implementation, the signal bearing medium 1402 may include arecordable medium 1408. In one implementation, the signal bearing medium1402 may include a communications medium 1410.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example system 1500 in which embodiments may beimplemented. The system 1500 includes a computing system environment.The system 1500 also illustrates a user 1512 using a device 1504, whichis optionally shown as being in communication with a computing device1502 by way of an optional coupling 1506. The optional coupling 1506 mayrepresent a local, wide-area, or peer-to-peer network, or may representa bus that is internal to a computing device (e.g., in exampleembodiments in which the computing device 1502 is contained in whole orin part within the device 1504). A storage medium 1508 may be anycomputer storage media. In one embodiment, the computing device 1502 mayinclude a virtual machine operating within another computing device. Inan alternative embodiment, the computing device 1502 may include avirtual machine operating within a program running on a remote server.

The computing device 1502 includes computer-executable instructions 1510that when executed on the computing device 1502 cause the computingdevice 1502 to (a) accept device-identifier data corresponding to atleast one communication device; (b) accept network-participationidentifier data associated with a verified real-world user associatedwith the at least one communication device; and (c) assign a uniqueidentifier at least partly based on the device-identifier data and thenetwork-participation identifier data. As referenced above and as shownin FIG. 15, in some examples, the computing device 1502 may optionallybe contained in whole or in part within the device 1504.

In FIG. 15, then, the system 1500 includes at least one computing device(e.g., 1502 and/or 1504). The computer-executable instructions 1510 maybe executed on one or more of the at least one computing device. Forexample, the computing device 1502 may implement the computer-executableinstructions 1510 and output a result to (and/or receive data from) thecomputing device 1504. Since the computing device 1502 may be wholly orpartially contained within the computing device 1504, the device 1504also may be said to execute some or all of the computer-executableinstructions 1510, in order to be caused to perform or implement, forexample, various ones of the techniques described herein, or othertechniques.

The device 1504 may include, for example, a portable computing device,workstation, or desktop computing device. In another example embodiment,the computing device 1502 is operable to communicate with the device1504 associated with the user 1512 to receive information about theinput from the user 1512 for performing data access and data processing,and assign a unique identifier at least partly based on thedevice-identifier data and the network-participation identifier data.

FIG. 16 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 16 illustrates example embodiments where theaccepting operation 320 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1600, 1602, and/or operation1604.

Operation 1600 depicts accepting network-participation identifier dataassociated with a verified real-world user associated with the at leastone communication device, further comprising associatingnetwork-participation identifier data with a real-world user associatedwith the at least one communication device. To continue an example ofoperation 302 above in which unique identifier unit 102 and/ornetwork-participation identifier acceptor module 106 may accept fromFacebook a username associated with a verified real-world user having aniPhone and corresponding account with a telecommunications company, theunique identifier unit 102 and/or identity prediction module 122 maysearch one or more identity databases for associations between theusername and a real-world user, and for associations between thatreal-world user and the iPhone. Sources of data for associating a userwith network-participation data and/or a communication device mayinclude, for example, information that is provided by the user. Forexample, social network, message boards, internet forums, and the likemay contain a link between a username and a phone number, a real-worldname, birth date, gender, age, or other identifying attribute. Privatesources of data may also include information provided by the user, suchas private social networks, ecommerce websites, or any websites to whicha consumer provides sign-up information. Publicly available sources maycontain unique consumer information, including for example, vehicleregistration records, real estate records, driving records, votingrecords, political donations, health information, government relateddata, technographics, or any other on-line sources disclosinginformation about people. Examples of algorithms that may be employed toperform these associations can be found in U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication 2010/0088313 “Data Source Attribution System,” herebyincorporated in its entirety by reference. See also U.S. PatentApplication Publication 2010/0010993 “Distributed Personal InformationAggregator,” also hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.

In the example above, the Facebook username may be used as a searchquery by identity prediction module 122 to find the same username on ablog containing a real-world name and mobile phone number associatedwith the username, the mobile phone number being assigned to the iPhoneassociated with the now-verified real-world user associated with theFacebook username.

Operation 1602 depicts associating network-participation identifier datawith a real-world user associated with the at least one communicationdevice, including at least one of performing the association usingidentity prediction, performing the association using de-anonymization,or performing the association using real-name profiling. For example,unique identifier unit 102, identity prediction module 122,de-anonymization module 244, and/or real-name profiling module 246 mayassociate network-participation identifier data with a real-world userassociated with the at least one communication device, including atleast one of performing the association using identity prediction,performing the association using de-anonymization, or performing theassociation using real-name profiling. For example, accept from LinkedInthe name of a person associated with a videoconferencing device andcorresponding account with a videoconferencing service such as WebEx Webconferencing. If the association between the LinkedIn subscriber and areal-world user associated with the videoconferencing device is missing,identity prediction module 122 may search relevant identity databasesfor matches to the subscriber's username or other profile data. In thisway, verification of the real-world user can be accomplished, andassociation between the network-participation identifier data and theuser associated with the communications device can be performed.

Operation 1604 depicts associating network-participation identifier datawith a real-world user associated with the at least one communicationdevice, including at least one of performing the association using webhistory tracking, performing the association using media contenttracking, or performing the association using app data tracking. Forexample, unique identifier unit 102, Web history tracking module 248,media content tracking module 250, and/or app data tracking module 252may associate network-participation identifier data with a real-worlduser associated with the at least one communication device, including atleast one of performing the association using web history tracking,performing the association using media content tracking, or performingthe association using app data tracking. For example, unique identifierunit 102 may accept from Google the email address of a person associatedwith an Android phone and corresponding account with a wireless carrier.In this example, app data tracking module 252 may match the emailaddress with device ID from the phone, e.g., SIM data, and make theassociation between the email address and the phone. Additionally, webhistory tracking module 248 may search public databases for verificationthat a real-world user is associated with the email address, for exampleby searching department of motor vehicle records or real estate records.

One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein describedcomponents (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the discussionaccompanying them are used as examples for the sake of conceptualclarity and that various configuration modifications are contemplated.Consequently, as used herein, the specific exemplars set forth and theaccompanying discussion are intended to be representative of their moregeneral classes. In general, use of any specific exemplar is intended tobe representative of its class, and the non-inclusion of specificcomponents (e.g., operations), devices, and objects should not be takenlimiting.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specificexemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies arerepresentative of more general processes and/or devices and/ortechnologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filedherewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

In some implementations described herein, logic and similarimplementations may include software or other control structures.Electronic circuitry, for example, may have one or more paths ofelectrical current constructed and arranged to implement variousfunctions as described herein. In some implementations, one or moremedia may be configured to bear a device-detectable implementation whensuch media hold or transmit a device detectable instructions operable toperform as described herein. In some variants, for example,implementations may include an update or modification of existingsoftware or firmware, or of gate arrays or programmable hardware, suchas by performing a reception of or a transmission of one or moreinstructions in relation to one or more operations described herein.Alternatively or additionally, in some variants, an implementation mayinclude special-purpose hardware, software, firmware components, and/orgeneral-purpose components executing or otherwise invokingspecial-purpose components. Specifications or other implementations maybe transmitted by one or more instances of tangible transmission mediaas described herein, optionally by packet transmission or otherwise bypassing through distributed media at various times.

Alternatively or additionally, implementations may include executing aspecial-purpose instruction sequence or invoking circuitry for enabling,triggering, coordinating, requesting, or otherwise causing one or moreoccurrences of virtually any functional operations described herein. Insome variants, operational or other logical descriptions herein may beexpressed as source code and compiled or otherwise invoked as anexecutable instruction sequence. In some contexts, for example,implementations may be provided, in whole or in part, by source code,such as C++, or other code sequences. In other implementations, sourceor other code implementation, using commercially available and/ortechniques in the art, may be compiled/implemented/translated/convertedinto a high-level descriptor language (e.g., initially implementingdescribed technologies in C or C++ programming language and thereafterconverting the programming language implementation into alogic-synthesizable language implementation, a hardware descriptionlanguage implementation, a hardware design simulation implementation,and/or other such similar mode(s) of expression). For example, some orall of a logical expression (e.g., computer programming languageimplementation) may be manifested as a Verilog-type hardware description(e.g., via Hardware Description Language (HDL) and/or Very High SpeedIntegrated Circuit Hardware Descriptor Language (VHDL)) or othercircuitry model which may then be used to create a physicalimplementation having hardware (e.g., an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit). Those skilled in the art will recognize how to obtain,configure, and optimize suitable transmission or computational elements,material supplies, actuators, or other structures in light of theseteachings.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable typemedium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), aDigital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link (e.g., transmitter,receiver, transmission logic, reception logic, etc.), etc.).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware,and/or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed ofvarious types of “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein“electrical circuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electricalcircuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electricalcircuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitryhaving at least one application specific integrated circuit, electricalcircuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by acomputer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by acomputer program which at least partially carries out processes and/ordevices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computerprogram which at least partially carries out processes and/or devicesdescribed herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g.,forms of memory (e.g., random access, flash, read only, etc.)), and/orelectrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem,communications switch, optical-electrical equipment, etc.). Those havingskill in the art will recognize that the subject matter described hereinmay be implemented in an analog or digital fashion or some combinationthereof.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that at least a portion of thedevices and/or processes described herein can be integrated into a dataprocessing system. Those having skill in the art will recognize that adata processing system generally includes one or more of a system unithousing, a video display device, memory such as volatile or non-volatilememory, processors such as microprocessors or digital signal processors,computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphicaluser interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interactiondevices (e.g., a touch pad, a touch screen, an antenna, etc.), and/orcontrol systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g.,feedback for sensing position and/or velocity; control motors for movingand/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A data processing systemmay be implemented utilizing suitable commercially available components,such as those typically found in data computing/communication and/ornetwork computing/communication systems.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto implement devices and/or processes and/or systems, and thereafter useengineering and/or other practices to integrate such implemented devicesand/or processes and/or systems into more comprehensive devices and/orprocesses and/or systems. That is, at least a portion of the devicesand/or processes and/or systems described herein can be integrated intoother devices and/or processes and/or systems via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize thatexamples of such other devices and/or processes and/or systems mightinclude—as appropriate to context and application—all or part of devicesand/or processes and/or systems of (a) an air conveyance (e.g., anairplane, rocket, helicopter, etc.), (b) a ground conveyance (e.g., acar, truck, locomotive, tank, armored personnel carrier, etc.), (c) abuilding (e.g., a home, warehouse, office, etc.), (d) an appliance(e.g., a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer, etc.), (e) acommunications system (e.g., a networked system, a telephone system, aVoice over IP system, etc.), (f) a business entity (e.g., an InternetService Provider (ISP) entity such as Comcast Cable, Century Link,Southwestern Bell, etc.), or (g) a wired/wireless services entity (e.g.,Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, etc.), etc.

In certain cases, use of a system or method may occur in a territoryeven if components are located outside the territory. For example, in adistributed computing context, use of a distributed computing system mayoccur in a territory even though parts of the system may be locatedoutside of the territory (e.g., relay, server, processor, signal-bearingmedium, transmitting computer, receiving computer, etc. located outsidethe territory).

A sale of a system or method may likewise occur in a territory even ifcomponents of the system or method are located and/or used outside theterritory.

Further, implementation of at least part of a system for performing amethod in one territory does not preclude use of the system in anotherterritory.

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications,U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applicationsand non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/orlisted in any Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein byreference, to the extent not inconsistent herewith.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures may beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected,” or“operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable,” to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents, and/or wirelessly interactable, and/or wirelesslyinteracting components, and/or logically interacting, and/or logicallyinteractable components.

In some instances, one or more components may be referred to herein as“configured to,” “configured by,” “configurable to,” “operable/operativeto,” “adapted/adaptable,” “able to,” “conformable/conformed to,” etc.Those skilled in the art will recognize that such terms (e.g.“configured to”) can generally encompass active-state components and/orinactive-state components and/or standby-state components, unlesscontext requires otherwise.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singularterms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from theplural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as isappropriate to the context and/or application. The varioussingular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sakeof clarity.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to claims containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where aconvention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, ingeneral such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill inthe art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at leastone of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that haveA alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that typically a disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms unless context dictates otherwise. For example, the phrase “Aor B” will be typically understood to include the possibilities of “A”or “B” or “A and B.”

With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art willappreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed inany order. Also, although various operational flows are presented in asequence(s), it should be understood that the various operations may beperformed in other orders than those which are illustrated, or may beperformed concurrently. Examples of such alternate orderings may includeoverlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental,preparatory, supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variantorderings, unless context dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like“responsive to,” “related to,” or other past-tense adjectives aregenerally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictatesotherwise.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopeand spirit being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: circuitry for maintainingone or more unique identifiers corresponding to one or more vehicles, aunique identifier corresponding to a vehicle associated with at least afirst network-participation identifier indicative of a firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle and a first geo-locatorderived from the first communication device associated with the vehicle,the first network-participation identifier indicative of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle linked with an image ofa user of the first communication device associated with the vehicle;circuitry for accepting at least (i) a second geo-locator derived fromat least one positioning function of a second communication device, (ii)device-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and (iii) a second network-participation identifier indicative of a userassociated with the second communication device; circuitry forobtaining, from the one or more unique identifiers, a vehicle result atleast partly based on the second geo-locator, the device-identifier datacorresponding to the second communication device, and the secondnetwork-participation identifier; circuitry for linking the firstgeo-locator derived from the first communication device associated withthe vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicle at least partly basedon the vehicle result obtained from the one or more unique identifiers;circuitry for accepting at least one image indicative of a current userof the first communication device associated with the vehicle; circuitryfor using image recognition of the at least one image of the currentuser of the first communication device associated with the vehicle todetermine whether the current user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle is the user of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle at least partly based on the image ofthe user of the first communication device associated with the vehiclelinked with the network-participation identifier indicative of the firstcommunication device; and circuitry for providing location informationassociated with the second geo-locator to the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle responsive to the image recognition.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein circuitry for accepting at least (i) a secondgeo-locator derived from at least one positioning function of a secondcommunication device, (ii) device-identifier data corresponding to thesecond communication device, and (iii) a second network-participationidentifier indicative of a user associated with the second communicationdevice comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifier datacorresponding to the second communication device, the secondcommunication device including at least one of a mobile phone, a wiredtelephone, a voice-over-internet-protocol telephone, a tablet computer,a notebook computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or anetworked television.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry foraccepting at least (i) a second geo-locator derived from at least onepositioning function of a second communication device, (ii)device-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and (iii) a second network-participation identifier indicative of a userassociated with the second communication device comprises: circuitry foraccepting the device-identifier data corresponding to the secondcommunication device, including at least accepting at least onetelephone number as the device-identifier data corresponding to at leastone telephony device as the second communication device.
 4. The systemof claim 1, wherein circuitry for accepting at least (i) a secondgeo-locator derived from at least one positioning function of a secondcommunication device, (ii) device-identifier data corresponding to thesecond communication device, and (iii) a second network-participationidentifier indicative of a user associated with the second communicationdevice comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifier datacorresponding to the second communication device, including at least oneof subscriber identity module data or integrated circuit card identifierdata corresponding to the second communication device.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein circuitry for accepting at least (i) a secondgeo-locator derived from at least one positioning function of a secondcommunication device, (ii) device-identifier data corresponding to thesecond communication device, and (iii) a second network-participationidentifier indicative of a user associated with the second communicationdevice comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifier data,including at least one of mobile equipment identifier data, electronicserial number data, international mobile equipment identity data, orinternational mobile subscriber identity data corresponding to thesecond communication device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitryfor accepting at least (i) a second geo-locator derived from at leastone positioning function of a second communication device, (ii)device-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and (iii) a second network-participation identifier indicative of a userassociated with the second communication device comprises: circuitry foraccepting the device-identifier data, including at least an IP addresscorresponding to the second communication device.
 7. The system of claim1, wherein circuitry for accepting at least (i) a second geo-locatorderived from at least one positioning function of a second communicationdevice, (ii) device-identifier data corresponding to the secondcommunication device, and (iii) a second network-participationidentifier indicative of a user associated with the second communicationdevice comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifier data,including at least accepting data corresponding to the secondcommunication device that is linked to at least one billing account. 8.The system of claim 7, wherein circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting data correspondingto the second communication device that is linked to at least onebilling account comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifierdata, including at least accepting data corresponding to the secondcommunication device that is linked to one or more of at least one cabletelecommunications billing account or at least one telecommunicationsbilling account.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein circuitry foraccepting the device-identifier data, including at least accepting datacorresponding to the second communication device that is linked to atleast one billing account comprises: circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting a mobile equipmentidentifier from a SIM card associated with the second communicationdevice; and circuitry for providing a link to at least one wirelesstelecommunications billing account associated with the accepted mobileequipment identifier, the link to at least one wirelesstelecommunications billing account operable to provide a name of anaccount holder associated with the at least one wirelesstelecommunications billing account as a verified real-world user. 10.The system of claim 7, wherein circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting data correspondingto the second communication device that is linked to at least onebilling account comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifierdata, including at least accepting data corresponding to the secondcommunication device that is linked to at least one physical address.11. The system of claim 7, wherein circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting data correspondingto the second communication device that is linked to at least onebilling account comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifierdata, including at least accepting a mobile equipment identifier from aSIM card associated with the second communication device; and circuitryfor providing a link to at least one wireless telecommunications billingaccount associated with the accepted mobile equipment identifier andlinked with at least one bank account, the link with at least one bankaccount operable to provide a name of an account holder associated withthe at least one bank account as a verified real-world user.
 12. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein circuitry for accepting the device-identifierdata, including at least accepting data corresponding to the secondcommunication device that is linked to at least one billing accountcomprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifier data, includingat least accepting data corresponding to the second communication devicethat is linked to at least one electronic payment account.
 13. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting data correspondingto at least one communication device that is linked to at least oneelectronic payment account comprises: circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting data correspondingto the second communication device that is linked to one or more of atleast one Google Checkout account, at least one Amazon Payments account,at least one PayPal account, or at least one mobile PayPal account. 14.The system of claim 7, wherein circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting data correspondingto the second communication device that is linked to at least onebilling account comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifierdata, including at least accepting data corresponding to the secondcommunication device that is linked to at least one credit card account.15. The system of claim 7, wherein circuitry for accepting thedevice-identifier data, including at least accepting data correspondingto the second communication device that is linked to at least onebilling account comprises: circuitry for accepting the device-identifierdata, including at least accepting data corresponding to the secondcommunication device that is linked to at least one virtual account. 16.The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry for accepting at least (i) asecond geo-locator derived from at least one positioning function of asecond communication device, (ii) device-identifier data correspondingto the second communication device, and (iii) a secondnetwork-participation identifier indicative of a user associated withthe second communication device comprises: circuitry for accepting thenetwork-participation identifier data, including at least acceptingsocial networking data corresponding to at least one verified real-worlduser of the second communication device.
 17. The system of claim 16,wherein circuitry for accepting the network-participation identifierdata, including at least accepting social networking data correspondingto at least one verified real-world user of the second communicationdevice comprises: circuitry for accepting one or more of at least oneusername, at least one @-tagged twitter handle, at least one corporatelogin, or at least one website universal resource locator.
 18. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein circuitry for accepting thenetwork-participation identifier data, including at least acceptingsocial networking data corresponding to at least one verified real-worlduser of the second communication device comprises: circuitry foraccepting one or more of at least some Facebook data, at least someTwitter data, or at least some LinkedIn data corresponding to at leastone verified real-world user of the second communication device.
 19. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein circuitry for accepting thenetwork-participation identifier data, including at least acceptingsocial networking data corresponding to at least one verified real-worlduser of the second communication device comprises: circuitry foraccepting one or more of at least some image data, at least oneconstellation of social contact data, or at least some user input datacorresponding to at least one verified real-world user of the secondcommunication device.
 20. The system of claim 16, wherein circuitry foraccepting the network-participation identifier data, including at leastaccepting social networking data corresponding to at least one verifiedreal-world user of the second communication device comprises: circuitryfor accepting data accumulated from multiple sources corresponding to atleast one verified real-world user of the second communication device.21. The system of claim 16, wherein circuitry for accepting thenetwork-participation identifier data, including at least acceptingsocial networking data corresponding to at least one verified real-worlduser of the second communication device comprises: circuitry foraccepting one or more of at least some data used to create additionaldata or at least some data used to find additional data corresponding toat least one verified real-world user of the second communicationdevice.
 22. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry for accepting atleast (i) a second geo-locator derived from at least one positioningfunction of a second communication device, (ii) device-identifier datacorresponding to the second communication device, and (iii) a secondnetwork-participation identifier indicative of a user associated withthe second communication device comprises: circuitry for associatingnetwork-participation data with a real-world user associated with thesecond communication device including at least performing theassociation using one or more of identity prediction, de-anonymization,or real-name profiling.
 23. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry foraccepting at least (i) a second geo-locator derived from at least onepositioning function of a second communication device, (ii)device-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and (iii) a second network-participation identifier indicative of a userassociated with the second communication device comprises: circuitry forassociating network-participation data with a real-world user associatedwith the second communication device including at least performing theassociation using one or more of web history tracking, media contenttracking, or app data tracking.
 24. The system of claim 1, whereincircuitry for obtaining, from the one or more unique identifiers, avehicle result at least partly based on the second geo-locator, thedevice-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and the second network-participation identifier comprises: circuitry forobtaining the unique identifier at least partly based on the firstgeo-locator and the second geo-locator.
 25. The system of claim 24,wherein circuitry for obtaining the unique identifier at least partlybased on the first geo-locator and the second geo-locator comprises:circuitry for obtaining the unique identifier at least partly based onthe predicted range of travel of the vehicle associated with the firstgeo-locator and at least partly based on the second geo-locator.
 26. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein circuitry for obtaining, from the one or moreunique identifiers, a vehicle result at least partly based on the secondgeo-locator, the device-identifier data corresponding to the secondcommunication device, and the second network-participation identifiercomprises: circuitry for assigning multiple unique identifiersrepresenting multiple communication devices associated with multipleusers with identical network-participation identifier data, theidentical network-participation identifier data including at least asocial networking account username.
 27. The system of claim 1, whereincircuitry for obtaining, from the one or more unique identifiers, avehicle result at least partly based on the second geo-locator, thedevice-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and the second network-participation identifier comprises: circuitry forassigning a unique identifier representing a single communication deviceassociated with multiple users.
 28. The system of claim 1, whereincircuitry for obtaining, from the one or more unique identifiers, avehicle result at least partly based on the second geo-locator, thedevice-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and the second network-participation identifier comprises: circuitry forassigning a unique identifier representing a single communication deviceassociated with a single user.
 29. A system, comprising: one or morecomputing devices; and one or more instructions that, when executed byat least one computing device, cause at least some of the one or morecomputing devices to perform one or more operations including at least:maintaining one or more unique identifiers corresponding to one or morevehicles, a unique identifier corresponding to a vehicle associated withat least a first network-participation identifier indicative of a firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle and a first geo-locatorderived from the first communication device associated with the vehicle,the first network-participation identifier indicative of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle linked with an image ofa user of the first communication device associated with the vehicle;accepting at least (i) a second geo-locator derived from at least onepositioning function of a second communication device, (ii)device-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and (iii) a second network-participation identifier indicative of a userassociated with the second communication device; obtaining, from the oneor more unique identifiers, a vehicle result at least partly based onthe second geo-locator, the device-identifier data corresponding to thesecond communication device, and the second network-participationidentifier; linking the first geo-locator derived from the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle to a travel predictionof the vehicle at least partly based on the vehicle result obtained fromthe one or more unique identifiers; accepting at least one imageindicative of a current user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle; using image recognition of the at least oneimage of the current user of the first communication device associatedwith the vehicle to determine whether the current user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle is the user of thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle at least partlybased on the image of the user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle linked with the network-participationidentifier indicative of the first communication device; and providinglocation information associated with the second geo-locator to the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle responsive to the imagerecognition.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or morecomputing devices comprise: one or more of at least one personal digitalassistant (PDA), at least one personal entertainment device, at leastone mobile phone, at least one laptop computer, at least one tabletpersonal computer, at least one on-board vehicle computer, at least onenetworked computer, at least one computing system comprised of at leastone cluster of processors, at least one computing system comprised of atleast one cluster of servers, at least one workstation computer, or atleast one desktop computer.
 31. The system of claim 29, wherein at leastone computing device is operable to perform the one or more operationsincluding at least maintaining one or more unique identifierscorresponding to one or more vehicles, a unique identifier correspondingto a vehicle associated with at least a first network-participationidentifier indicative of a first communication device associated withthe vehicle and a first geo-locator derived from the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle, the first network-participationidentifier indicative of the first communication device associated withthe vehicle linked with an image of a user of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle, accepting at least (i) a secondgeo-locator derived from at least one positioning function of a secondcommunication device, (ii) device-identifier data corresponding to thesecond communication device, and (iii) a second network-participationidentifier indicative of a user associated with the second communicationdevice, obtaining, from the one or more unique identifiers, a vehicleresult at least partly based on the second geo-locator, thedevice-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and the second network-participation identifier, linking the firstgeo-locator derived from the first communication device associated withthe vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicle at least partly basedon the vehicle result obtained from the one or more unique identifiers,accepting at least one image indicative of a current user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle, using imagerecognition of the at least one image of the current user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle to determine whetherthe current user of the first communication device associated with thevehicle is the user of the first communication device associated withthe vehicle at least partly based on the image of the user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle linked with thenetwork-participation identifier indicative of the first communicationdevice, and providing location information associated with the secondgeo-locator to the first communication device associated with thevehicle responsive to the image recognition from at least one memory.32. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry for linking the firstgeo-locator derived from the first communication device associated withthe vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicle at least partly basedon the vehicle result obtained from the one or more unique identifierscomprises: circuitry for linking to the unique identifier at least somegeo-locator data obtained via at least one positioning function of thefirst communication device.
 33. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitryfor linking the first geo-locator derived from the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicleat least partly based on the vehicle result obtained from the one ormore unique identifiers comprises: circuitry for linking the firstgeo-locator derived from the first communication device associated withthe vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicle at least partly basedon at least some location information for at least one Wi-Fi networkwith which the second communication device is associated.
 34. The systemof claim 1, wherein circuitry for linking the first geo-locator derivedfrom the first communication device associated with the vehicle to atravel prediction of the vehicle at least partly based on the vehicleresult obtained from the one or more unique identifiers comprises:circuitry for linking the first geo-locator derived from the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle to a travel predictionof the vehicle at least partly based on at least some location dataentered via at least one user interface of the second communicationdevice.
 35. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry for providinglocation information associated with the second geo-locator to the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle responsive to the imagerecognition comprises: circuitry for providing vehicle locationinformation associated with the second geo-locator responsive to asocial networking query related to the network-participation identifierdata.
 36. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry for providinglocation information associated with the second geo-locator to the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle responsive to the imagerecognition comprises: circuitry for providing location informationassociated with the second geo-locator in association with a query of aninter-service-provider directory of unique identifiers.
 37. A method,comprising: maintaining one or more unique identifiers corresponding toone or more vehicles, a unique identifier corresponding to a vehicleassociated with at least a first network-participation identifierindicative of a first communication device associated with the vehicleand a first geo-locator derived from the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle, the first network-participation identifierindicative of the first communication device associated with the vehiclelinked with an image of a user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle; accepting at least (i) a second geo-locatorderived from at least one positioning function of a second communicationdevice, (ii) device-identifier data corresponding to the secondcommunication device, and (iii) a second network-participationidentifier indicative of a user associated with the second communicationdevice; obtaining, from the one or more unique identifiers, a vehicleresult at least partly based on the second geo-locator, thedevice-identifier data corresponding to the second communication device,and the second network-participation identifier; linking the firstgeo-locator derived from the first communication device associated withthe vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicle at least partly basedon the vehicle result obtained from the one or more unique identifiers;accepting at least one image indicative of a current user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle; using imagerecognition of the at least one image of the current user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle to determine whetherthe current user of the first communication device associated with thevehicle is the user of the first communication device associated withthe vehicle at least partly based on the image of the user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle linked with thenetwork-participation identifier indicative of the first communicationdevice; and providing location information associated with the secondgeo-locator to the first communication device associated with thevehicle responsive to the image recognition, wherein at least one of themaintaining, accepting, obtaining, linking, using, or providing is atleast partly implemented using at least one processing device.
 38. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein circuitry for maintaining one or more uniqueidentifiers corresponding to one or more vehicles, a unique identifiercorresponding to a vehicle associated with at least a firstnetwork-participation identifier indicative of a first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle and a first geo-locator derived fromthe first communication device associated with the vehicle, the firstnetwork-participation identifier indicative of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle linked with an image of a user of thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle comprises:circuitry for receiving an indication of the first network-participationidentifier indicative of the first communication device associated withthe vehicle; circuitry for searching the one or more unique identifierscorresponding to one or more vehicles using the indication of the firstnetwork-participation identifier indicative of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle as a search term; and circuitry forstoring a newly-assigned unique identifier if the search does not resultin a previously-assigned unique identifier.
 39. The system of claim 1,wherein circuitry for maintaining one or more unique identifierscorresponding to one or more vehicles, a unique identifier correspondingto a vehicle associated with at least a first network-participationidentifier indicative of a first communication device associated withthe vehicle and a first geo-locator derived from the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle, the first network-participationidentifier indicative of the first communication device associated withthe vehicle linked with an image of a user of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle comprises: circuitry for maintaininga data structure of one or more unique identifiers corresponding to oneor more vehicles, the data structure operable to return one or moreunique identifiers corresponding to one or more vehicles associated witha particular geographic location responsive to a search query using ageo-locator as a search term.
 40. The system of claim 1, whereincircuitry for maintaining one or more unique identifiers correspondingto one or more vehicles, a unique identifier corresponding to a vehicleassociated with at least a first network-participation identifierindicative of a first communication device associated with the vehicleand a first geo-locator derived from the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle, the first network-participation identifierindicative of the first communication device associated with the vehiclelinked with an image of a user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle comprises: circuitry for maintaining a datastructure of one or more unique identifiers corresponding to one or morevehicles, a unique identifier corresponding to a vehicle associated withat least a first network-participation identifier indicative of a firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle and a first geo-locatorat least partly based on data from a satellite positioning sensor of thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle.
 41. The systemof claim 1, wherein circuitry for maintaining one or more uniqueidentifiers corresponding to one or more vehicles, a unique identifiercorresponding to a vehicle associated with at least a firstnetwork-participation identifier indicative of a first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle and a first geo-locator derived fromthe first communication device associated with the vehicle, the firstnetwork-participation identifier indicative of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle linked with an image of a user of thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle comprises:circuitry for maintaining a data structure of one or more uniqueidentifiers corresponding to one or more vehicles, a unique identifiercorresponding to a vehicle associated with at least a firstsocial-network username indicative of a first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle and a first geo-locator derived from thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle.
 42. The systemof claim 1, wherein circuitry for linking the first geo-locator derivedfrom the first communication device associated with the vehicle to atravel prediction of the vehicle at least partly based on the vehicleresult obtained from the one or more unique identifiers comprises:circuitry for linking the first geo-locator derived from the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle to a travel predictionof the vehicle at least partly based on a last known location of thevehicle indicated by the vehicle result obtained from the one or moreunique identifiers.
 43. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry forlinking the first geo-locator derived from the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicleat least partly based on the vehicle result obtained from the one ormore unique identifiers comprises: circuitry for linking the firstgeo-locator derived from the first communication device associated withthe vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicle at least partly basedon at least one search for driving directions from the vehicle indicatedby the vehicle result obtained from the one or more unique identifiers.44. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry for linking the firstgeo-locator derived from the first communication device associated withthe vehicle to a travel prediction of the vehicle at least partly basedon the vehicle result obtained from the one or more unique identifierscomprises: circuitry for linking the first geo-locator derived from thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle to a travelprediction of the vehicle at least partly based on a predicted range oftravel of the vehicle indicated by the vehicle result obtained from theone or more unique identifiers.
 45. The system of claim 1, whereincircuitry for providing location information associated with the secondgeo-locator to the first communication device associated with thevehicle responsive to the image recognition comprises: circuitry forproviding a current position of a user associated with the secondcommunication device indicated by the second network-participationidentifier to the first communication device associated with the vehicleresponsive to the image recognition.
 46. The system of claim 1, whereincircuitry for accepting at least one image indicative of a current userof the first communication device associated with the vehicle comprises:circuitry for accepting at least one image indicative of a current userof the first communication device associated with the vehicle subsequentto transmitting a request to the first communication device associatedwith the vehicle for a current image of a user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle.
 47. The system ofclaim 1, wherein circuitry for using image recognition of the at leastone image of the current user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle to determine whether the current user of thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle is the user ofthe first communication device associated with the vehicle at leastpartly based on the image of the user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle linked with the network-participationidentifier indicative of the first communication device comprises:circuitry for retrieving the image of the user of the firstcommunication device associated with the vehicle at least partly basedon the network-participation identifier indicative of the firstcommunication device; circuitry for comparing the accepted at least oneimage indicative of a current user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle with the retrieved image of the user of thefirst communication device associated with the vehicle; and circuitryfor identifying the current user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle as the user of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle linked with the firstnetwork-participation identifier indicative of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle at least partly based on thecomparing.
 48. The system of claim 1, wherein circuitry for accepting atleast one image indicative of a current user of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle comprises: circuitry for accepting atleast one image indicative of a current user of the first communicationdevice associated with the vehicle, the at least one image indicative ofthe current user of the first communication device including at leastone image captured by the current user of the first communication deviceusing an image sensor of the first communication device.
 49. The systemof claim 48, wherein circuitry for accepting at least one imageindicative of a current user of the first communication deviceassociated with the vehicle, the at least one image indicative of thecurrent user of the first communication device including at least oneimage captured by the current user of the first communication deviceusing an image sensor of the first communication device comprises:circuitry for accepting at least one image indicative of a current userof the first communication device associated with the vehicle, the atleast one image indicative of the current user of the firstcommunication device including at least one fingerprint image capturedby the current user of the first communication device using afingerprint image sensor of the first communication device.